Big Day For Jack and Misty -- Birthdays

Happy Birthday to our wonderful grandson Jack. Today Jack is 6 and such a spectacular grandson. Jim and I just love it when he tells us he loves us. Jack is always telling me to give grandpa a great big hug and that makes Jim feel so good. Jack is sensitive, caring and loving plus he is very smart. Right now in his life his favorite things to do are to go to school, play with his Star War toys and to play video games with his daddy. I wish I were there with you Jack. If I were I would give you a great big grandma hug. Love you.

Misty has a birthday also. She is now one year old. As a treat I took her to the dog park today for the first time. She loved it. I kept her in the small dog area but all she wanted to do was to get in there and play with the big dogs. Happy Birthday Misty.

Jim is doing great today. The pulminary doctor said his lungs are great and let's try and get him off the vent. He was off 3 hours this morning before I got there. They only put him back on because he was starting dialysis. The lab work was not back so I don't have those numbers. He loved playing with Misty today and feeding her treats.

We had bingo tonight and I got to yell BINGO. Yeah me. My sister was robbed about four times from yelling bingo. She was oh so close. Mom didn't play with us tonight because she is in the middle of her two day quilt class.

Dr. Says Jim is Doing Well

The doctor said today that Jim is doing great. Still working on the kidney situation. (Forgot to ask about his bun and creatin today so I don't have the numbers. The doctor is going to have Dr. Van Winkle come back in on Friday and check to see how the chest wound is doing and where we are on that. The cutest ear doctor was in today. He was 6-6 and about 32 years old. OK I like cute doctors. He cleaned out Jim's ears and Jim could hear a lot better. His ears were really packed with wax. He also told Jim to do some ear exercises. Jim just looked at him like he was crazy but then the doctor explained. He said that the times Jim is off the vent he should hold his nose and blow. This will eliminate fluid from around his ears. OK we can do that. Speaking of the vent. Jim was off for 2 hours today.

Yesterday I went to a crop and a Tinkering Ink class and we made the cutes little wood valentine box. We also made little love notes to put in the box. As always there was lots of paper left over. In the past I would file all this paper away and essentially forget about it. It never gets used and just takes up space. Tonight I decided to use all of the left over paper. I made these two layouts of my nephew Donald and his girlfriend Holly. I thing they turned out pretty nice. I then threw all of the scraps in the trash. No leftovers and space taken up. So I made one box and two layouts with the materials from the class.

Rode my bicycle today. Man this is going to take work. I am really out of shape. Everyday is a new day and this to will get easier.

I'm Bike Riding

Well we finally did it. I shouldn't say we as I did not do very much. My sister did 90% of the work. But the bike is finally put together and I have taken it for a test spin. Misty loves it as you can see. Yes I am officially an old lady riding a three wheel bicycle and loving every minute of it.

Jim was doing pretty well today. Everythings the same. One good piece of news is that yesterday his hands had swollen up and I had to take his ring off to protect his finger. Today when I sent in his hands were not swollen at all and I said have you had dialysis yet today and he said no. He had actually peed away the fluid on his own. His bag was a third full. The dialysis nurse told me at 6:00 when she came in and I had told her this she said that was a very good sign. I love good signs.

Played cards tonight with my sister, mom and friend. Thanks Jackie for making dinner. YOu know I love it and appreciate it. We got several inches of rain tonight that was desperately needed and it's still raining. Thank god it's not snow. Have a great weekend.

Maintaining the Status Quo

Not much different today. Jim was off the vent for two hours today while I was there. Yeah. Moving in the right direction. He was in a good mood and we were able to talk about the bridge hands I played today. He even told me I bid a couple of hands wrong. Jan you were right on that 4 club bid and the one you doubled spades showing spades.

It was great to be able to talk with Jim and to see the real interest he had in what I had done today. It just goes to show that his brain is still working and sharp. If we could just get his body to cooperate.

The doctor did tell me that Jim's electrolytes are all in the normal range. She said this is good news to show that the toxin levels are balancing out. I don't really understand this part but I believe her when she says this is good news.

Some good news for once

I finally got a report on how Jim has been doing over the last 10 days. First Russanne is very pleased with how Jim's wounds are doing. She was gone for 2 weeks so she had not seen them during that time. The butt sore is one third smaller and not very deep. Yeah. It is healing. The wound vac is doing a great job on the chest wound. I don't want to be to technical but here it is. There were two separate wounds in the chest with the center healed over but there was a tunnel under the skin connecting the two. The tunnel is now healed and there is no connection. The top wound used to pulse from the lungs. This not happening now. The bottom wound was tunneling downward and curving. This is no longer true. The tunnel has healed. The have called Dr. Van Winkle for a consult tomorrow and the word is that surgery may be unnecessary. Cross your fingers. The is the first time I have gotten any goods news about his wounds.

As for the kidneys. This is a wait and see game. He is peeing a little bit. We just have to work through this process.

Jim was in a really good mood today. Especially after the doctor gave us this report. He was smiling and joking with the nurses. They took him off the vent for about an hour. We'll try it again tomorrow. This is also a slow process. He told me to go play bridge at the tournament and not to worry about him because he was going to be just fine.

I did play in the Sectional here tonight. There were 6 brackets and of course we were in the top bracket. But guess what. We won. We play again tomorrow morning. I also had group therapy today. These sessions are very good for me and give me perspective on how to handle the day to day events of my life.

Oh my god. Happy Birthday Rick. I totally forgot to call you. I will call you tomorrow. I love you and hope your day is great. Hope you got the package from Home Depot. Love that you are getting the shower in your new house.

Jim is Plugging Along

I just love this picture of Cathy and Joshua. I have been trying to catch up on some photos that I love. Cathy just because I scrapped this picture doesn't mean you can take Joshua home.

Jim is doing just fine. He is anxious to try being off the vent. We are back to playing charades and he gets so frustrated with me when I do not get what he is trying to tell me. We're hoping by Friday to try him off the vent. This morning we watched TV and just hung out. They had done his dressing changes and given him a bath so he was all comfortable and relaxed.

He had some loose stools today so they put in a tube so as not to contaminate the bedsore on his behind. The nurses tell me that it is improving and we don't want to set this back. Jim was OK with it in fact he gave them the permission. Last night they also had to readjust the pick line as it had moved. Bun 55, Creatin 3.7. Still haven't talked to a doctor since last week but the nurses let me know what the reports say.

Tonight when I was in Jim was sleeping. I didn't wake him because when I kissed him hello he just shook his head. This is an indication that he wants to sleep. I sat there with him for awhile and read a book.

It is crowded in Jim's room

There is no room to move in Jim's room now that he has a roommate. Jim has so much equipment you can barely move and put the messy nurses on top of that and it is a mess. I spent some time cleaning up after them and it is a little better now.

Tom Haley came to see Jim today and that was a really nice surprise. Jim smiled when he saw him and raised his arm to shake his hand. Tom you are lucky because I have not seen him do that since the last time you were here.

No contact again today with the doctors. It is tough tracking them down. They come in really early and as most of you know I don't get up early so my window is rather small. Dr. L. will be in in the next couple of days and she is really accessible so I'll talk to her. Her hours are more like mine.

Jim's doing a little better so that is good. His kidney numbers are still a little high but not as high as they were. He had dialysis today but he was also peeing before the dialysis and that is a good sign.

I won a bingo tonight and that is always fun. I won $20. Not a lot of money but it is the thrill of victory. This is one of Jack's Halloween photos as Harry Potter. Grandma made the scarf and he really loved it. My mother made the robe for him. He looks just like Harry.

Jim is feeling good

Yesterday and today I saw a real difference in Jim. I guess when they take 30 pounds of fluids out of you you stop sloshing around. His hands are so thin. His ring barely stays on. He's alert, smiling and interested in what is going on. I have not talked to any of the doctors because I keep missing them but hope to connect tomorrow with them. I have left messages. Basically all of his vital signs are normal. Chest wound still has the wound vac and his butt is showing some improvement. He is going to have another week of dialysis. His numbers are still not what the doctors want to see.

A new development today was that Jim got a roommate. I don't know how long this is going to last but we will see. It is now really crowded in his room. I don't know where they are going to put the dialysis machine tomorrow.

Worked on the bicycle today but we are still not there. I did a bunch of little things that I have been neglecting but it feels good to get some of this done. I also started a calendar back in NOvember and I finally finished the January pages. I even hung it up. More when I know more.

Jim lost 10 pounds today

That's right, Jim lost 10 pounds today. The goal was to take 4600 ml from Jim during Dialysis and that is exactly what they did. Thi equates to 10 pounds. I keep telling them to hook me up. His numbers bun 33/creatin 2.7. We do not know why the creatin is going up but they are watching this. This kinda of tuckered Jim out but it did not keep him from watching the Green Bay game. Wow was it snowing. Well we will see what the numbers are tomorrow and the plan for next week.

Congratulations Rick (my nephew and his wife) and Heather on your new house. How exciting this is for both of you. I know it doesn't look like much now but imagine what it is going to look like on March 17th when you move in.

Well Jackie worked on my bicycle today. Boy was that a job. Neither of us expected it to be so much work. Not as much for me as for Jackie. We are not quite done but I'll have pictures by Monday. All I want to know where is the quality control. Don't you think they could have sent all of the washers and bolts. Jackie I owe you more than breakfast. I love you.

4th Day of Dialysis

Jim had dialysis again today. They took 2600 ml out of him or about 2 and a half liters of fluid. That relates to about 5 pounds.They now weigh Jim before every dialysis treatment. They have to keep an record of all of his fluids. His BUN today was 50 (up a little) and creatin is still 2. They say it is normal for the BUN to go up when there has been a non-dialysis day. Kidney doctor in and reviewed everything. I did not talk to him but he put orders in for todays dialysis.

He was awake this morning but wiped out tonight. I left him to watch TV tonight.

I actually did three of these layouts so each of my little boys will have one in their book. Being able to create these layouts keeps me busy and my mine occupied. It is kind of a therapy for me. Hope everyone enjoys them. There will probably not be a blog tomorrow night because I am going to a crop from 3 until midnight. My sister wants me up early Saturday morning to go to breakfast. This is a bribe because she is going to put my bicyle together for me. Can't wait to see those pictures.

Slowly Moving Along

Today Jim was awake a lot longer. I was there this morning for about 3 hours and we watched TV the whole time. He never fell asleep. I feel like this is progress. He was on CPAP for the ventilator. His BUN was 23 and his Creatin was 2.0. The Bun is in normal range but the Creatin is not. They say sometimes it takes longer for the Creatin to go down. Cultures came back on the chest wound and it is still infection with a 26 letter word that I will not try to repeat here. The chest would is closing up amazingly. We do not know what is going on underneath but we are hoping that it is coming along also. We took 3 huge steps backward in the last week and a few baby steps forward.

Went to Scrap and Dash tonight. These are the two layouts that we did tonight. Bob I fixed the glare.

Day 3 of Dialysis

For all of us that want to lose weight. Jim lost 14 pounds n 3 days. That is how much water they have taken out of him in 3 days of dialysis. I told the nurse today to hook me up. Take that water.

On Sunday Jim's BUN was 138. 20-30 is normal. His Creatin was 2.0. With a 138 this should have been 4. Normal being 1.0. But the numbers were totally out of ratio and this really concerned the doctors and that's the reason for the dialysis. Today Jim's BUN is 44 and Creatin is still 2.0. This is a normal ratio but both numbers are still high. These numbers were done this morning before the dialysis. We hope to see these numbers normal tomorrow.

No culture results are in yet. These take time to grow. Jim is alert. Much more so that the previous days. This morning better than late evening. After the dialysis he is wiped out. The plan is to do dialysis Thursday and Saturday and then reevaluate his situation. Here's hoping.

Went to Bingo tonight but no bingo's for the three of us. Did this layout a couple of days ago for my calendar. Need to fix a couple of things with layouts from the previous days and will do this tomorrow. For now I'm going to bed.

No Snow Here

Here's my layout for the day. This is a digital scrapbooking page and was done totally on the computer. Love these photos.

I saw Jim this morning and he was doing fine. He had a fresh shave and looked so comfortable. He was smiling and flirting with the nurses because they were flirting with him.

I'm going back in a little while and I hope some of the test results are back. More later.

Dialysis Day 2

Jim did well on dialysis again today. Once again he slept through most of this. Kathy, the dialysis nurse, is a huge football fan so Jim and Kathy are watching the game and Jim is mostly sleeping.

He was alert and pain free today. Bob sent me about a 100 photos of Christmas, Snow and first haircut for Lucas. I put these on a memory card and took them in to show Jim. Jackie had given us a large digital frame. Jim watched the entire slide show. He was smiling and happy to see the boys. I put the frame where he could see it and let it run all day so that if he woke up he would see these smiling faces. I know it brightened his day.

I actually went and played bridge today. Have not played since November. I played with my friend Jan and it was really fun. We were second. Not bad for not playing in a while. It was good to get out and forget my troubles for awhile.

I do not know where Jim is going and no one else knows either. The pulminary doctor decided not to do the broch today. He said Jim really didn't need it as he was able to cough up what needed to come out. He said this was good. I'm just keeping his spirits up and keeping him comfortable. He was cold today so I put on his Notre Dame blanket. One doctor said, "Maybe next year." Jim laughed.

These are the layouts I did tonight. Sorry about the glare on you face Bob. Jackie thank you for dinner. Love you.

Jim is doing fine so far

Jim is doing fine after his ordeal today. They took him to Sarasota Memorial Hospital around noon today. They needed to put the dialysis cathere in by a radiologist. He got back to Health south around 5:00. The dialysis started at 5:30 and lasted 3 hours. Before he left for SMH I explained the entire procedure to him. I want him to know what they are doing and why. I asked him if he understood and he said yes. I said do you want to do this. He said yes. I want him to make decisions about his care if he can.

I sat with him for awhile to make sure he was comfortable during the dialysis and he seemed to have no pain and was watching the football game. Luckily he missed the Tampa game. I left when he drifted off to sleep. I checked with the nurse around 10:00 and he was still sleeping and in stable condition. The dialysis nurse said his vitals remained strong throughout the procedure.

The plan is for him to have dialysis for the next two days for 3 and a half hours each day. Then the doctors will review his blood tests and will decided where we go from here. It's a plan at least and I am more comfortable when we have a plan and are doing something.

The two layouts here are from scrap and dash this week. I'm trying to do the layout a day. Sometimes I skip a day and do two the next. It keeps me busy and my mine occupied. Today I got about a 100 photos from Bob and Teresa from the holidays. So now I am really behind. I made a disk and am going to put them in the digital photo frame my sister got us for Christmas and will take them in for Jim to look at tomorrow. The frame is 8 x 11.5 so they will be big for him to see. He'll love it. Good night for now.

Jim to start Dialysis

The kidney doctor just called me and he wants to start Jim on Dialysis. His protein levels are going up and this is not good. He also said (well he said a lot) but this is the crux: there seems to be too many toxins in his blood. They need to clean this out. It's Sunday and he has to call a radiology team in to do this so it will happen some time this afternoon. He has to go to Doctors or Sarasota hospital to have the line put in and then he'll go back to Healthsouth and the dialysis will start. I'll let everyone know where we go from here. I'm off to the hospital now.

I have finally picked my word for the year. It is strength. The most basic meaning is: strength
1. The quality or state of being strong; ability to do or to bear; capacity for exertion or endurance, whether physical, intellectual, or moral; force; vigor; power; as, strength of body or of the arm; strength of mind, of memory, or of judgment. "All his [Samson's] strength in his hairs were." (Chaucer) "Thou must outlive Thy youth, thy strength, thy beauty." (Milton)

My inspiration for a word for the year comes from Ali Edwards. You can read about it on her blog: http://itsallaboutme.typepad.com/

I know I'm rambling but that's my state right now. So for today, let me find the strength to get through today.

Jim is hanging in there

Jim has such a will to live despite his poor body. He continues to fight to stay with us. We are still waiting to see what the Kidney doctor wants to try. Tonight he was peaceful and he responded to me. Jim I love you and it is all up to you now. Not much else to say but that we are continuing to be together.

I will be at the hospital in and out tomorrow if anyone wants to call my cell and say a few words to him. Cell 941-350-1377. I'm doing more frequent visits but for a shorter time so as not to tire him.

Mistakes continue

Today Jim was a little more alert and responding to me. Vitals are back to normal mid-range and that is good. But the mistakes continue. The pulminary group wanted to do a brochectomy yesterday and as I said yesterday they did not look on page 2 of Jim's chart and see the cell phone number. I was down eating lunch.

The doctor scheduled this for today and I signed all of the consent papers yesterday. I went in to see him before the procedure so I would not be in the way. His nurse came in and said he was going to have the B procedure and I told her that I knew that and would be leaving once he came. She then gave him his meds. They were smashed into powder so he could take them and then he was given water to flush them down.

The doctor walked in during this and could not believe the nurse was giving him the meds. He said to the nurse what are you doing. Did you not know we were going to do this procedure. She said yes but she wanted to get the meds out of they way. The doctor said don't you understand NPO before this procedure. She said she did not realize this. The doctor had to cancel the procedure again. It will now be Monday.

I went outside and just screamed. There was no one out there so it was no problem. I had a cig and calmed down. I went to the head nurse and said to please remove this nurse from Jim's care as I felt she did not know what she was doing.

I went back into the room and she was there hanging an antiabiotic. She apologized and said she did not know. I said you should have know because you are a nurse in critical care. She then started to argue with me. I didn't say a thing and went and got the head nurse and said get her out of there. I do not need her arguing with me. This was a stupid mistake and completely uncalled for.

I left for a while and then came back and watched some of the Ball State football game with him. He is drowsy but will open his eyes when you say his name. I'm home now but will go back in a little while and watch some of the playoff game with him.

Right now: Not as scared as last night but very nervous. His situation is very unstable and we just keep praying. The pulminary doctor said he is a little more stable that yesterday but he will see on Monday how the procedure goes.

Evening Update

As you could probably tell from my earlier post things are not good with Jim. I spent the day with Jim and just holding his hand and telling him that I was there. Here is the update:

Gen Doctor: Ordered a battery of tests and cultures. We will see if they show anything. Ordered a chest xray. Right now they really not know what is going on. Consults we called in and we will watch him carefully. Ordered two pints of blood because of Low hemocrit and low hemoglobin.

Vent Tech: blood oxygen test showed lower oxygen levels requiring the vent to be put back on.

Pulminary Doctor: Doing a brochetomy in the morning. This could be just a bump in the road or something more serious. We just have to watch him carefully to see what happens. He said Jim does ths periodically so Jim will tell us where we are going.

Renal/Kidney doctor: High creatine and high protein. Both show kidney problems. He said when the oxygen levels are low the blood produces more protein and that is bad for the kidneys. He is hoped the blood will resolve this problem. He ordered a sonagram of the kidneys. No results yet.

When I first went in this morning Jim was unresponsive to me. He would barely open his eyes. Late today he would open his eyes more and respond to me. His color was good so that is one good sign.

Father Mike came to see Jim midday and Jim opened his eyes for him. The priest talked to him and it seemed that JIm was listening to him. Father Mike prayed with him and when he said the Lords Prayer Jim mouthed the words.

Not the best of days. Lots of tears. Thank you Jackie for being there for me and just listening and then making me eat tonight I love you.

Big time prayers are needed tonight. Jim is in serious need of help. If I put everything I heard today together the prognosis is not very good. Jim and I are both comfortable with our love and he knows that if he feels it is time that it is OK for him to leave. This was the hardest thing I have ever done to tell him that it was OK. I told him I would always love him and I wanted him by my side but that I understood that his poor body has been through so much and that if he needed to go please to go with peace. He smiled at me and told me he loved me. Now we just wait and see.

Quick Update

Just wanted to give everyone a quick update on Jim. This morning Jim is not doing very well. His vitals are normal but in the low area. His hemoglobin is 8.5 so they have decided to give him 2 units of blood to see if they can get this up. He was non responsive this morning so they called the doctor and have ordered a lot of tests. His breathing was labored so they have put him back on the vent to help him breath so he does not have to work so hard. They asked me to wait until about 12:00 to see him because they are doing all these tests. I'll let you know once I have seen him.

Dificult Day for Jim

Today was a difficult day for Jim. He told me when I came at lunch time that he was going to die and it was coming fast. I asked who told him this and he said God. My stomach lurched to my throat and it was all I could do to keep it together. I got him talking about it and said that Dr. Liggitt was there and why don't we talk to her. So in she came and she talked to Jim and told him that all of his vital signs were great, his lab work was all normal and that he looked good. He just looked at her and was not convinced.

She told me that she felt that his anexity level seemed to be a bit high but that sometimes patients feel doom when it is really doom. She did not think this was the case. She decided to give him some xantac to see if that would calm him down. I sat with him for a while and he drifted off to sleep. The pulminary tech raised his oxygen level from 3 to 5 to give him some extra comfort.

I was back in about 3:30 and checked on him and he seemed calmer. Today was my group therapy so I went to that and then back to his room. He did not want to eat dinner. He had some Dan Active and a glass of milk and that was it. It was calm and we talked about things and he seemed much better but it really took a lot out of him and he just wanted to sleep.

He asked me if he could talk to a priest and I made the arrangements for a priest to see him tomorrow and give him communion. I hope this will give him an extra level of peace. He got a letter today from a special friend and that seemed to please him. She has entered the seminary and that seemed to please him.

I am going to try to meet the one layout a day for 365 day challenge. This is my first page of the year and is for the challenge at my local scrapbook store. Misty got a haircut and bath today so I hope to get a good picture of her tomorrow. I took her to see Jim today and that did make him smile to see her so clean and stylish.

Sleepy Day for Jim

Today was one of those days that Jim just wants to sleep. I went to see him around lunch time. I always try to be there at meal time (except breakfast, way to early) so I can feed him. The last thing he wanted today was food. He was really sleepy. We got a glass of milk into him and that was all he was having. I tried to get him to wake up but he was not having it. Sometimes he just needs to sleep. They tell me that his body requires a lot of sleep and that the most healing he gets is while he is sleeping. So honey you just sleep all you want.

I checked back later and the nurse told me he was still sleeping so I did not go in at dinner time. Mom had been there around 4:00 and he didn't wake up for her either so I'm just letting him sleep. At around 8:30 I called and had them put the Fiesta Bowl on. We're not sure if he watched any of it. I'll see tomorrow.

I know I am not going to get a lot of sympathy here from my northern friends but we have a freeze warning in effect for tonight. I mean it is really cold here. Tonight when I walked Misty I had my heavy robe on and my heavy coat on over it. Let's just say it was a very short walk.

Thanks Mom for dinner tonight. The soup was really good and warmed me up inside. Love You.

Happy New Year

Jim and I will be ringing in the New Year together. I got permission to stay through midnight tonight so we will be together as 2008 begins. The very best to everyone as we move into a new year.

Patty and Jim

7 Months and 10 Days

We are almost to 2008 and I am really glad. The last 7 months and 10 days have been really hard on Jim. The holiday season is always a trying time according to the doctors. Dr. Liggitt had told me to work really hard at keeping his spirits up because so many times patients fall into deep depression during this time. I have been positive and upbeat with Jim and it has worked. Today when Dr. Hume came in Jim actually joked with the doctor. He had the doctor really going and laughing. It was so good to see.

We were working on his exercises and there is one where he has to hold his arm up and wave like the queen. This ones always brings up a smile. The other good one is when he has to open and close his had. Well today on the second set of 10 he gave me the finger and just laughed and said see I can still do it. It was just that kind of day today.

Dr. Hume said to keep plugging away because he is doing great. He is going to have Megan reevaluate his swallowing this week and see if he can get upgraded. He wants that cheeseburger so bad. Maybe by the end of the week.

Please be safe everyone as we get closer the the New Year.

Jim's A Little Scared Today

I'm not sure of the reason but Jim is very nervous today. When I got there today he said we had to talk. This always makes me nervous because you never know the reason. He went into quite a bit of detail about his breathing. He felt that he could not get his breath. He had all the times in his head. Resperatory and his nurse came in and everyone tried to assure him that things were fine. They even brought in his chart and showed him all of his levels. His oxygen was 99 all day. I saw the computer printout. Sometimes he just gets nervous. This has caused him to have an upset stomach so he doesn't want to eat. And all of this throws him into depression.

I try to do everything to make him feel that everything is OK and there is no reason to be nervous. They gave him a shot for the upset stomach and he said he would eat later for Mary. All I can do is assure him that everything is OK and not to worry. I try to cheer him up in every way. I actually got him laughing today with my trials of trying to find Teresa and Bob a Wii. I missed one today by one person. With any luck I'll have one by the new year. Several places expect them in and I'm wait listed at one place. He was laughing when I was telling him what it did.

Right now Jim is the best he has ever been. Now if we can just get him out of this funk and get him eating all will be good and then maybe I will get out of my funk too. He was even talking to Misty today.

Christmas Miracle

Jesus has performed another miracle. Jim is still fighting to come back to us. Today he was smiling and in good spirits. He was in a chair and breathing on his own. Last June I would never have believed we could get to this point. He ate French Silk pie minus the crust today. Merry Christmas to all. Like they said in church last night. We must believe in miracles.

Not the Christmas I had hoped for

This is not exactly the Christmas Jim and I had hoped for. When we moved to Florida we had so many hopes and dreams for our new life. A joyous Christmas with my family was one of our dreams. Now Jim is in the hospital and both of my nephews will not be with us. My sister is sad for this is the first Christmas without at least one of her children. I am happy to spend Christmas with both my Mom and sister even though we will be spending a lot of time at the hospital. We are all trying very hard to get in the holiday spirit but it is very hard.

I have transformed Jim's hospital room into a festive room in hopes that this will cheer all of us up. I also make these layouts to get me in the spirit of the season. It's moments like this when you see such magic in children's eyes that you find the real spirt.

My plan is to spend Christmas Eve with Jim. Just the two of us watching old Christmas movies on TV. I'll turn out all the lights and just have the Christmas Tree lit. I'll bring Jim an Eggnog milkshake and some munchies for me and we'll try to be in the spirit.

On Christmas day Mom, Jackie and I all plan to go to the hospital about 11:00 and open presents with Jim. Caroline and Nancy I will bring the box you sent and I hope this brings a smile to his face. We'll have Christmas dinner at the hospital. They have a celebration planned. I plan to stay at the hospital until about 5:00 and then go to Mom's for her Christmas dinner.

We have a plan but I just need a little cheer. Hopefully tomorrow I'll find the cheer. Jim's doing fine but he is refusing to eat and I don't know what to do about this. All I can do is keep trying.

Jim had a Steak & Shake Milkshake

Today was a milestone day. Megan (speech therapist in charge of Jim's eating) said Jim could have a milkshake from Steak and Shake. McDonald's was too runny and Wendy's too think. S & S is perfect and luckily just down the road. I went and got it for him and he loved it. He drank about half and we put the rest in the freezer for later. What a treat for him to have something normal.

Dr. Liggett was in and she said Jim is very stable and progressing along. She said Jim's just doing his thing and we just help him along. About 5:00 he told me to go home and get some rest. I guess I look a little tired. So I'm home now and going to just relax tonight.

This layout is about the Christmas Flamingo Santa I took to Chicago for my grandchildren. I don't think its something you find in Chicago. Jack, Josh and Luke just loved it. He sings a song, Here I come . . . and dances to the music. I think Teresa and Bob have gotten a little tired of listening to him but I am sure these 3 precious boys are still playing with it. Teresa, do you need more batteries.

Peace, Love and Joy to all during this holiday season. Remember us in your prayers as we remember all of you to keep you safe during the holiday and into the New Year.

Christmas Lights Have Put Me in the Spirit

I love looking at the Christmas Lights. My sister took us to this amazing light show. There must have been one million lights and over 150 trees. They were all set to music and I was enthralled by the show. I have been twice in the last week. Once with Mom and Jackie and then with Donald and Holly.

I am working on getting Jim in the spirt of Christmas. It's hard but his room looks a little like Christmas. There is a tree, red bows and Mom brought in a stocking for Misty and it's hanging on the bulletin board.

They put the wound vac on Jim last night. They have it at a very low setting because they want to make sure that it does not overpower his lungs. So far so good. Jim ate lunch but wanted nothing to do with dinner. He said his stomach was upset so the doctor prescribed something for this and hopefully he'll eat tomorrow. Today he told me to stop fussing over him. I can't help it. What am I to do. If it's nice tomorrow I am going to try to get him outside. He needs a change of scenery.

Thanks Jackie for dinner again. I love it when you cook.

Deck the Halls

I am having such fun making these layouts. I can't wait until after Christmas to print them all out and have a very special 2007 Christmas Book. I hope you are enjoying them.

Today Jim is doing about the same. He is still off the vent and this now makes 5 days. His blood pressure is much better today so I think we dodged that bullet. It was really low yesterday and they just watched him. They did not want to give him any levocet if they didn't have to. They hoped it would resolve itself. Today's were all in the normal range.

As for eating not so good. At lunch he had some yogart and that was about all. For dinner I got him to eat 3 bites of each item. It's a start. You just have to coddle him into it. I think pureed roast beef may taste good but it is not great to look at. He slept a lot today and the doctor tells me this is good because the body heals better when he is resting. When he's sleeping I don't wake him up. I have things to do at the hospital so I either read or do puzzles.

Thank you Jackie for making dinner tonight. I loved it. You can cook for me anytime. Love you.

Santa Arrives in 7 Days

Today I got everything in the mail. (Except for Tom, I don't have your address) So with any luck everything will arrive by Christmas. The post office was jammed and I spent some time in line but everyone was in great cheer and it was not bad. I should not have waited so long to get this done but you now how behind I am.

Today Jim was doing great. They even took the ventilator machine out of his room. They have not done this for awhile so it is a very good sign. The only problem will be with the insurance company. BCBS will probably start giving us problems next week but the doctors are very much against moving Jim to a skilled nursing facility. So we will be fighting BCBS.

Jim ate very little again today. It is hard to start eating after so much time. The doctor says this is normal. He is drinking the Dan Active and for dinner he ate a little mac and cheese and some yogart. He also drank his milk. Other than that we just hung out and played with Misty.

Bingo was tonight and I won 3 bingos and did not have to share with anyone. The other players were ready to throw me out. Hope everyone's holidays are going great and that my Chicago friends are not freezing. I hope you enjoy my digital layouts. I have such fun making them.

Jim now has a doctorate in the Swallow Test Arena

Jim has now been off of the vent for 48 hours and once again he has passed another swallow test. That means he can eat nector thickened foods. The foods are pureed and the fluids are nector think. He did not eat any lunch but I got him to drink a glass of milk and a glass of cranberry juice. That is all he wanted. We he hasn't eaten in a while it takes him a few days to get back in the swing of things. Today he was alert and talking. Baby steps are all we can ask for and that is what we are getting. Let's hope he will eat tomorrow. He really needs the nutrition that food gives him. The TPN has nutrients but it is not the same.

This digital layout is of Donald and his girlfriend Holly. The snowman should be made of sand since there is no snow in Florida.

But I must say it was really cold this morning. The weather man said 42. Baby it is cold outside. I even turned my heat on for a while tonight. Hopefully, tomorrow will be warmer. No more emails from you guys up north. I know this is not cold.

Football Sunday

Jim had two TV's going again today. He had the Colts on one TV and the Cowboys on the other. He's got his own sportbar going on in is room. He was happy and content. He had his dressing changes without much complications. The wound vac won't be in until tomorrow. Dr. Hume was happy. And guess what. He was off the vent the whole night. That means he has been off the vent since yesterday morning. This is great. He might be able to have water and eat tomorrow. He really does want to drink something.

I'm a little behind on my 25 days of Christmas. This photo was taken at the Windy City Scrapbooking store in downtown Chicago. This is Danelle Johnson and she is my hero. She is from Iowa and was in Chicago teaching. I was lucky enough to be able to take 3 of her new Creative Cafe classes. It was a great day and I learned a lot of new techniques.

It's getting cold here. We are supposed to have a high of 61 tomorrow. Right now I have the window's open but it's getting a little cold so I might have to shut the windows. Iknow 61 is not cold to most of you but here in Sunny Florida 61 is cold. Our low tonight will be in the 50's.

Hanging Out on Saturday

Misty and I spent the day with Jim. Misty had her first rawhide chew bone. She completely devoured it during our day at the hospital. Jim and I watched two movies. First Pirates of the Carribean and then we watched Our Big Fat Greek Wedding. We laughed as hard this time as we did the first time.

Dr. Hume was in and we reviewed our plan for the next couple of weeks. The wound vac will be there on Monday so we'll see what happens. Dr. Hume agreed with this plan and said that Jim was very stable right now and we are going to work on getting him off the vent.

I had not shared with everyone Jim's special birthday day. I was in Chicago so I could not be there to share the day with him. The first thing in the morning all the nurses came in to sing Happy Birthday to him. Mom came in and brought Jim a Notre Dame fleece that she had made for him. She found the fabric at Joanne's. Jackie went in and cheered him up late in the day.

Surgical Update

Well Jim and I met with Dr. Van Winkle tonight. Boy does he have an entirely different opinion on the surgery. He said right now we would have to do both options 1 and 2 and it would be very dangerous.

He says that if you introduce the muscle/blood to the wound it would be fine for the top layer but everything underneath would absese. No good because now you have to clean up underneath and you now have all that muscle. If gives this only a 50 percent change of success.

What he would like to do is put a wound vac on the wound for 3 to 4 weeks and see how much infection they can pull out. He said the wound is much improved over the past month and he thinks this is the best. Then after the first of the year we revisit the surgery option to see where we are. In that time also we can get Jim off the vent. He wants to try another medication that may make JIm's pulminary issues better. He said all of this will greatly increase our chances of success.

Ok so now we have another opinion. What do we do. WE talked with the wound care nurse and she said to go with the plastic surgeons opinion because that is his specialty. So that is what we are going to do. So in the next day or two the wound vac will go on and we will hope for the best.

Donald, Holly and Jackie were there during the doctor visit and they said the doctor made a lot of sense.

I said goodbye to Donald tonight and that was very sad. I will really miss him.

Let It Snow

I did this quick layout this morning remembering my day in the snow.

Christmas Celebrations

Today we mostly just hung out. Jim and I watched a movie. Mooseport was really funny and kept us enterained.

No news on when the surgery will be. I am hoping we will know something tomorrow. Last night we all went to the Christmas show at the club house. It was put on by a local high school. The kids really got us in the Christmas spirit.

More when I know something.

Dr. Schiro's Report

Jim and I met today with Dr. Schiro. He is the cardiac surgeon who did Jim's bypass surgery. He is also the doctor that opened his chest on September 12 and found all of the infection. He said we have three options.

1. We can do nothing and the worst will happen. It will be slow and it will be painful.

2. We can open the chest cavity and remove a portion of the sternum and clean out the area between the sternum and the heart. This is a very strenuous surgery. There is no way to tell if the stiches will hold inside. He gives this option a 50 50 percentage.

3. We can get in a plastic surgeon and between Dr. Schiro and Dr. Van Winkle they will remove muscle from the pectorial muscle area and put it into the chest cavity and then sew it up. Infections do not heal without blood and this area is not getting a lot of blood. I did not know this but muscle is full of blood. Introducing blood to this area will pull the infection out. I don't know how but this is what he said. This option the doctor put at 90 percent success. It is not as hard on the body.

Jim and I have talked about this and we have decided on Option 3. Jim does not want to continue the status quo. He wants to be aggressive. He wants to live but he does not want to just lay their and let this infection take over. Jim is fully aware of his situation and the doctor explained all of these options to both of us. It is ultimately Jim's decision and he told Dr. Schiro he wants the surgery.

The two doctor's offices are talking and are trying to coordinate their schedules and hopefully the surgery will be at the beginning of next week. He will be transferred to Sarasota Memorial Hospital for the surgery. If the surgery is Monday, then the best case senerio is that he will be back at Healthsouth by the end of the week.

Dr. Schiro was very upbeat about this. He said to Jim, "Let's get this fixed so you and I can go to a Yankee spring training game in Tampa."

Yes I am scared. But this is the first time in a long time that I feel there might actually be some hope of Jim getting better. This chest infection is what is holding him back. Even Dr. Hume was excited about this procedure. He was totally against surgery on Monday. As we all believed, we thought our only option was the second one. Ok one more time. Big prayers are needed.

A perfect Winter Day

I am sorry to my winter friends and family but Sunday night was a perfect winter evening. This picture was taken at 5:30 in the evening. It was 82 degrees and the sun was setting. There were about 30 drummer on the beach and the beach visitors were given a perfect sunset.

Jim is still the same. The chest wound is not healing and we do not know if it ever will. Dr. Schiro is meeting with us tomorrow morning to see if there is anything he can do.

Bingo tonight. Donald and I both won a bingo. Yeah for us.

I took Donald and Holly to lunch today. Spent some time with Jim. Zero chores were accomplished. But you know what. I am not going to let it stress me out. This week I am hanging out with Donald.

Christmas Day 11

It was a little late last night so I skipped the blog and went straight to bed.

Jim is doing fine but he was a little tired yesterday and his vitals were a little off so they kept him on the vent most of the day. I saw him around noon and he just wanted to sleep so I only stayed a little while. Later I went back with Jackie, Donald, Holly and Misty. He was more awake and enjoyed our visit. Last night Mary told me that he watched the entire football game and that he enjoyed that.

I saw the movie Fred Claus last night. This is a fun family movie and really gets you in the holiday spirit.

This layout is from Saturday's Newby Management employee party. We went with Jackie and had a good time. Jackie and her co-workers won the best community award so we are really proud of her.

Donald is Here

Donald and Holly are here and it is so good to see them. Can you believe I did not take one picture of them. I will remedy that tomorrow. We all had breakfast together this morning and tonight we went to Barbara's Christmas open house. What fun.

The rest of the day I spent with Jim. I wanted to take him outside again but he said no. It is football Sunday and he was going to watch the games. He's about the same. Off the vent and vitals all normal. Tomorrow we are going to see what Dr. Shiro has to say about Jim having surgery.

Off to bed.

18 Days to Christmas

And you guessed it I have 60 days worth of stuff to get done. Well guess what it is not all going to get done. I have a half decorated tree. Hopefully it will get done. My Christmas card situation is a mess. In February my hard drive crashed and burned and I have no address book. No addresses is my situation. Plus nobody had my address so cards may be a problem this year. I'm not even thinking of baking. My house is out of control and I am almost out of underwear. Yes I am stressed. But starting right now I am going to let it all go. If it doesn't get done oh well. Since I have not been sleeping the past couple of days I have got to change that and that will be my focus. Tonight sleep and no one is going to wake me up in the morning.

Oh and did I say no air conditioning. That's right. This has quit on me and currently it is 81 in my house. All the windows are open and all of the fans are on. A can't do anything until Monday.

I think my stress level is based on the fact that Jim and I are going to be facing some big decisions. Unfortuately we did not talk to the doctor today but will tomorrow. This surgery decision is looming on us. Jim was fine today but he did not want off the vent. They said there was no reason except that he was really tired. I guess the time outside yesterday wore him out.

My nephew Donald and his girlfriend Holly will arrive late tonight and I can't wait to see them tomorrow. I bet they wake me up. Oh well who cares. I can't wait to see Donald.

A Little Time Outside Today

Tonight I tried my hand at digital scrapbooking without the help of my teacher. I did this layout completely from scratch. There are 27 items on this page. I can't believe I was able to do this. Now it only took me 2 hours but yeah I did it.

Today Jim and I spent an hour and a half outside. It was really great. He was off the vent and we just hung out. As I told the doctor it was almost normal for us. Misty was with us and she was sitting in Jim's lap and he was petting her and talking to her. We talked about Christmas and what we were going to give each of our families. He said get some paper so you can write this down. The fresh air is good for him. After awhile we just need fresh air and he has had so much artificial air that this time just perked him up.

Dr. Liggett said that Dr. Winkel would be in tonight and she had called Dr. Shiro so we are waiting on all of this information. She said that Jim is the best he has been throughout this ordeal. So we'll see where we go from here.

I took my sister and mother to Mrs. Chin's tonight for dinner. Then we went to see a house that has at least 150 christmas trees all set to music. It was beautiful. More later as it is now 1:00 am and my sister is picking me up at 8:30 to help her mail 50 boxes to Iraq.

A favorite moment

As many of you know I have just returned from Chicago. This photo is one of my favorite moments. I spent the day with three wonderful little boys on my birthday. Jack, Josh and Luke are absolutely perfect. You can not imagine how I felt when I met Jack's school bus on Thurday and he ran off the bus yelling Grandma Your Here. He ran into my arms and we just hugged. Josh waved his arms and said grandma in his little voice. Now Luke is not sure about me. He doesn't remember me like the other two. He kept watching me and wondering why his two brothers were always on my lap and giving me hugs. He slowly warmed up to me and soon he to will be saying grandma.

Spent a lot of time with Jim today. They took him off the vent so we could talk. He says, It's about time you're back. He really missed me. I told him all about the trip and said did you bringme a hot dog. I said no but when the doctor said he could have a hot dog I would get one for him.

He had some chest pains this afternoon. To be safe they did an EKG and a chest X-ray. They even gave him some nitro. Dr. Liggett assured me that his was probably pain from his chest wound and not heart related. She ordered enzymes to be sure because as she said, "I'd look pretty silly if he really did have a heart attack."

We also discussed the chest wound and how we should proceed. She feels Jim is strong enough to consider surgery. She is calling in Dr. Winkel and is going to get a consult with Dr. Shiro. She discussed this with Jim and I and we are going to look into our options. Basically the situation is the wound is not getting better and if we don't do something it may never get better. This is saying in a few words what we discussed for over an hour. Jim is totally alert and understood everything she was saying. I will keep you updated as we consider the options.

Spent time with Misty today, went through the stack of mail and just relaxed this evening. I'm off to bed. 4:00 was way to late last night.

I'm Back From the Frozen Tundra

Just wanted everyone to know I'm back from Chicago. Leaving Ohare yesterday was a trial. The plane was delayed because of the snow. Then when we were finally loaded there was no one to put our bags on the plane. Finally the ticket agents did it and that was after sitting on the plane for an hour. Then we had to wait in line for another half hour just to take off. Then because of the delays we stopped in Orlando. Another hour delay. My very sleepy sister picked me up and I think I finally got to sleep around 4:00. Misty did not want to go to sleep. More later. I've seen Jim but not for very long. They wanted to change his pick line and do his dressings so I ran home for awhile.

Chicago Report @2

Jim misses me is the report. He is still on the vent but they hope to take him off tomorrow. He is only on pressure support today and he is doing fine. No fever and all vitals are normal. All the blood tests have come back normal.

Today he wanted to know where I was and I had to remind him that I am in Chicago and will be back Wednesday night.

As for me I am having a little fun. I have been hugging my grandchildren so tight. I think Teresa would notice if I took them back with me. I tried to bribe Jack with a trip to Disney World but he is still not up to it. Maybe next year.

Tonight I went to the CCBA board meeting/Christmas party. It was fun to see everyone and laugh a little. I need laughter and this trip has really given me some much needed laughter.

Some say snow tomorrow. I certainly hope not because I have a day planned with the kids. we are going to see Santa.

Snow in Chicago

It snowed today. Then there was an ice storm. I was out in this and it was awful. When I got to Bob and Teresa's I parked the car in the driveway and started to get out and the car was sliding down the driveway. I had to park in the street so the car did not slide away.

I got to talk to Jim and wish him a happy birthday. The boys all sang to him and I am sure he was smiling. Happy birthday honey. I love you.